Exploring Nature in New Hampshire

What a Day for a Daydream

Last Saturday’s sunshine and 50 + degree temperatures made it easy to fall into spring daydreams. I decided to walk along the Ashuelot river in Swanzey where there are witch hazels (Hamamelis virginiana) growing to see if they might be blooming. They often blossom on warm winter days and I’ve even seen them blooming in January.

The river had tamed itself and the water level had dropped considerably since the last time I was here. There weren’t even any waves to photograph.

There were ice baubles still hanging onto the twigs in shaded areas but their gray opaqueness told me they were rotting in the sun.

Here was one with a hole right through it, which I can’t explain. I’m guessing it was made by a twig, but where is the twig?

There was green grass along the river and that made it even easier to dream of spring. It was a beautiful day; a well-deserved bonus day after the terrible weather of the last month or two.

I’m not sure what caused this bright yellow color on this and a couple of other stones. It wasn’t lichen. These stones spend time submerged when the river rises so I wonder if it might be some type of algae. I doubt the color is natural to the stone itself, it looked more like it was on it rather than part of it.

The spot where the witch hazels grow is on a small peninsula that juts out into the river. There was a trail out to its end but it has come close to disappearing over the years. I thought it was an old fisherman’s trail but I’ve seen enough deer tracks out here to wonder if it isn’t a game trail. It’s still being used; you can just see the disturbed leaves that mark the trail just to the right of center in this photo.

Off to the right of the trail, closer to the river, the high water mark lies just above silt which has been deposited by the river over the years. I’ve seen this high water mark grow closer and closer to the trail, which means flooding on the river is getting worse. This is a very scary place when the river is high.

The ice on this tree branch shows how high the water was just recently. I’d guess about two feet higher than it was on this day, and I’d have had very wet feet and probably wet knees as well.

The silt the river leaves behind is as fine as sugar and anything that falls or steps on it will leave a mark. Even raindrops pock mark it. I wondered if these tracks were made by a beaver but there were none of the usual claw marks. They were big enough to be made by a bobcat and cats have retractable claws, so that’s a definite maybe. Whatever made them comes here a lot because there was a trail of these prints through the silt, going in both directions.

There are beavers here. This was a freshly cut tree, and a beaver would make a good meal for a bobcat.

The witch hazels were indeed blooming and even though these aren’t spring blooming vernal witch hazels (Hamamelis vernalis) the sight of flowers just made my dream of spring all the more real. The thought hit me while I was here that it is this intense longing for spring that makes winters seem so long for me. Desire causes pain. Remove the desire and remove the pain. It sounds so simple.

One of my favorite mosses grew on a log. I love the way it reaches out to colonize new lands. I think it might be beaked comb moss( Rhynchostegium serrulatum) but I can’t be sure because I’ve never seen it with spore capsules. It might also be Isopterygium tenerum, which is another creeping moss.

A woodpecker had pecked very small holes in a limb that was no bigger than 2 inches across. I was thinking that it must have been a very small woodpecker when I heard a tapping behind me.

It was a woodpecker pecking at a tree and it wasn’t tiny. Judging by where its red spots are I’m guessing it is a hairy woodpecker, but since I don’t do birds I could be wrong. It didn’t sit still long, whatever its name. There were lots of other birds here too including chickadees and juncos and this small piece of forest was full of birdsong, which of course made it seem even more like spring.

I think the reason so many birds populate this area is because there is plenty here for them to eat, but unfortunately much of that food comes from plants that are invasive, like the oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) seen here.

This maple tree shows what bittersweet can do when it wraps itself around a tree trunk. The vine is as strong as wire and doesn’t expand as the tree grows, so the tree has no choice but to grow out around it, and this deforms the tree. The tree will eventually be strangled to death unless something is done.

I saw what looked like a blush of blue on a lichen that grew on a tree so I took a few photos of it, but it wasn’t until I got home and looked at the photos that I saw something very unusual.

Very unusual in my experience, anyhow; each of the lichen’s apothecia, which in this case are little round spots where its spores are produced, had liquid in them. It hadn’t rained for a while so I’m not sure what this is all about. I have seen lichens with wet apothecia right after a rain but nothing like this. This lichen looked more like moisture was being squeezed from it rather than it picking up any moisture from its surroundings. If you know what it happening here I’d love to hear from you. I’ve searched and searched but haven’t had any luck.

The sun had gone by the time I was ready to leave but that didn’t bother me because it had been a great spring like walk with plenty of interesting things to see. Any day that reaches 50 degrees in December is a good day in my opinion. That night I actually dreamed lilacs were blooming and the strangest thing about that is, I rarely remember my dreams.

Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night. ~Edgar Allan Poe

The woodpecker is a hairy woodpecker, the length of its bill is the clue needed to make the ID.

A sunny 50 degree day, what I wouldn’t give for such a day here. I’m happy for you that you were able to enjoy such a day.

I found the tracks and the lichens interesting, I’m not an expert, but my guess would be bobcat tracks as well. I have no idea why the lichen would be wet on such a day though.

Loved the ice baubles, the photos of the river itself, and the witch hazel. We’ve made it past the official start of winter, so we can begin to look towards spring again. Just two months to go until the first signs of it begin to appear around here.

Thanks Jerry! And thanks for the woodpecker ID. I didn’t know bill length was a factor.
It wasn’t a completely sunny day but I’ll take it!
I think it was simple condensation that made that lichen so wet. It was a dewy morning.
Yes, just two more months and things will start to happen. I can’t wait but meanwhile, have a great Christmas!

I’m glad you enjoyed your balmy day 🙂 Today it must have been 60F in my neck of the woods, but pouring rain, now for about 24 hours and no sign of stopping. If there’s a break tomorrow I’ll try to get into the woods and check the witch hazel here.
Those tracks look a little odd to me for a bobcat, but I can’t think of what else they could be, if you saw no claw marks in any of them.
Happy Solstice!

Thank you Quinn. We had the same weather here, and lots of rain!
I hope you see some witch hazel blooming!
No, no claw marks in any of those tracks. Each print was about as big as a half dollar too; much bigger than a house cat.
Merry Christmas!

I enjoyed your post as always (belatedly catching up my blog readings) Lovely to have almost spring like temperatures for your walk. Beautiful countryside, and photos. Best wishes for the holiday season.

Thank you, I’ve never seen a lichen doing that either but apparently some do, according to an email I got from someone in the know.
I saw the resemblance in the two woodpeckers too. I’m waiting for a bird person to tell me if I’ve got this one named correctly or not.

I always enjoy your observations of minute things in nature – like a detective following clues! Thank you for sharing them and all your knowledge about the natural world. Happy Holidays to you and yours.

You’re welcome, and thank you Susan. I never thought of it that way but there is a lot of detective work involved in trying to understand what I’m seeing out there.
Merry Christmas to you and your family!

What a great December day, thank you for sharing. I especially enjoyed the witch hazel, it gave me a touch of spring, as I have a spring blooming witch hazel in my garden. Happy Holidays to you and your family. I look forward to your weekly post in 2019.